East Coast-inspired bars pitch in for Fiona aid
Alberta chain hosting Friday fundraiser to help Red Cross storm relief efforts
As a lengthy cleanup begins after the devastating damage of post-tropical storm Fiona on Canada's East Coast, some Albertans with ties to the Atlantic provinces are doing what they can to pitch in.
Fiona battered the Maritimes, eastern Quebec and southwestern Newfoundland with 130-kilometre-per-hour winds on Saturday, destroying homes and knocking out power for hundreds of thousands of people along the eastern seaboard. The storm has so far resulted in one confirmed fatality, a 73-year-old woman from a coastal town in Newfoundland, Port aux Basques.
Blowers & Grafton is a Calgary-based, East Coast-inspired bar with deep connections to its Atlantic roots — both through its staff and patrons. Co-owner Josh Robinson said he and many of his staff members across the bar's two Calgary and three Edmonton-area locations have family on the coast. While their loved ones are safe, “there's a lot of devastation” around the towns and cities in which they grew up, Robinson said.
“Even within our team members, they've got family members whose roofs have blown off in Cape Breton and gas stations that have been completely taken out,” said the Halifax-raised Robinson. “It's rough when things like this happen, especially being so far away. It definitely hits home; it hits your heart.”
To help those reeling from the storm, the bar is hosting a fundraiser at all of its locations on Friday, sending all of its net proceeds on alcohol to the Canadian Red Cross. They'll also be encouraging cash donations to the organization.
“Once the government announced that they were going to be matching 100 per cent of the funds and donations for the next 30 days to the Red Cross, we decided that we'd try to raise some funds for it as well,” said Robinson.
“Our hearts are with our fellow East Coasters and as a representative of the East Coast and as a business that represents the East Coast, in a way we feel it's our duty to create some awareness out here.”
Canadian Red Cross Alberta vice-president Jenn Mcmanus said Albertans have historically been eager to open their wallets for disasters impacting communities across Canada and she's expecting a similar level of generosity this time. She noted Alberta has been the benefactor of Red Cross donations on multiple occasions before, including the southern Alberta floods in 2013 and the Fort Mcmurray wildfire in 2016.
“They're generous to communities who are facing crisis and so I suspect if Albertans can give, they definitely will,” she said.
While no Alberta-based Red Cross staff have been deployed to assist on the ground, Mcmanus said teams are at the ready if they're called upon.
“If we have a request for support within the Red Cross, we will definitely be here to help our colleagues on the East Coast,” said Mcmanus.
For those looking to assist in the Red Cross's Fiona relief efforts, donations can be made at redcross.ca.
Humanitarian aid organization Samaritan's Purse is planning to send a disaster relief vehicle — a specialized semi-truck equipped with safety equipment, chainsaws, tarps and other cleanup equipment — from Calgary to aid the recovery efforts on Prince Edward Island. There, it plans to set up shop at a Charlottetown church and provide assistance to impacted families in the area.
“The devastation is so widespread,” said Tammy Suitor, the Canadian disaster relief manager at Samaritan's Purse. “(We) want to do all we can to serve people and communities who have lost so much.”
Samaritan's Purse volunteers are set to assist with removing downed trees, cleaning debris, tarping damaged roofs and windows, and helping prepare severely damaged homes for rebuilding.